Featured series 
Tag: Genetics
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Campus & Community
Nobel Prize in Medicine shared by Harvard Medical School professor
Jack W. Szostak, a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, is one of three winners of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine this year, with Elizabeth Blackburn of the University of California, San Francisco, and Carol W. Greider of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine….
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Health
Growing her own answers
Assistant Professor Kirsten Bomblies examines plant immune responses for clues about genetic divergence.
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Science & Tech
Genetic sex determination let ancient species adapt to ocean life
A new analysis of extinct sea creatures suggests that the transition from egg-laying to live-born young opened up evolutionary pathways that allowed these ancient species to adapt to and thrive…
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Health
Genome of Irish potato famine pathogen decoded
A large international research team has decoded the genome of the notorious organism that triggered the Irish potato famine in the mid-19th century and now threatens this season’s tomato and…
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Health
Maternal, paternal genes’ tug-of-war may last well into childhood
An analysis of rare genetic disorders in which children lack some genes from one parent suggests that maternal and paternal genes engage in a subtle tug-of-war well into childhood, and…
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Health
Study pinpoints novel cancer gene and biomarker
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists’ discovery of a cancer-causing gene – the first in its family to be linked to cancer – demonstrates how the panoramic view of genomics and the…
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Health
Researchers learn how mutations extend life span
In the sense that organisms existing today are connected through a chain of life – through their parents, grandparents, and other ancestors – almost a billion years back to the…
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Health
After a century, link between chromosomal instability and centrosome defects in cancer cells is unraveled
In a new study, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists disprove a century-old theory about why cancer cells often have too many or too few chromosomes, and show that the actual reason…
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Health
Genetic testing for breast or ovarian cancer risk may be greatly underutilized
Although a test for gene mutations known to significantly increase the risk of hereditary breast or ovarian cancer has been available for more than a decade, a new study finds…
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Science & Tech
Scientists create custom three-dimensional structures with ‘DNA origami’
By combining the art of origami with nanotechnology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers have folded sheets of DNA into multilayered objects with dimensions thousands of times smaller than the thickness of…
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Health
Broad scientists to sequence multiple myeloma samples
The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) announced today a collaboration with the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT to systematically uncover the molecular changes underlying multiple myeloma by whole-genome sequencing…
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Health
Study finds genetic links to age of first menstrual period, menopause
Newly identified gene variants associated with the age at which females experience their first menstrual period and the onset of menopause may help shed light on the prevention of breast and endometrial cancer, osteoporosis, and cardiovascular disease.
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Health
MicroRNA discovered to play role in DNA repair
Among their many roles as message couriers and gene regulators, microRNA molecules also help control the repair of damaged DNA within cells, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School scientists…
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Health
For cancer cells, genetics alone is poor indicator for drug response
In certain respects, cells are less like machines and more like people. True, they have lots of components, but they also have lots of personality. For example, when specific groups…
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Health
Newly identified genetic variants found to increase breast cancer risk
A large-scale effort to identify genetic markers of breast cancer has uncovered two common genetic variants that increase risk of the disease in women of European ancestry. The paper, published…
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Health
Study identifies human genes required for hepatitis C viral replication
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers are investigating a new way to block reproduction of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) — targeting not the virus itself but the human genes the…
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Health
Taking a stride toward synthetic life
Harvard scientists have cleared a key hurdle in the creation of synthetic life, assembling a cell’s critical protein-making machinery in an advance with both practical, industrial applications and that advances…
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Health
Predicting risk of stroke from one’s genetic blueprint
A new statistical model could be used to predict an individual’s lifetime risk of stroke, according to the results of a study by Harvard researchers at the Children’s Hospital Boston Informatics Program.
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Health
Common gene variants increase risk of hypertension
A new study has identified the first common gene variants associated with an increased incidence of hypertension — a significant risk factor for heart attack, stroke, and kidney failure. The…
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Health
Neural wiring hints at nervous system gene limits
Genetics may play a surprisingly small role in determining the precise wiring of the mammalian nervous system, according to painstaking mapping of every neuron projecting to a small muscle mice use to move their ears. These first-ever mammalian “connectomes,” or complete neural circuit diagrams, reveal that neural wiring can vary widely even in paired tissues…
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Health
International study identifies gene variants associated with early heart attack
The largest study ever completed of genetic factors associated with heart attacks has identified nine genetic regions — three not previously described — that appear to increase the risk for early-onset myocardial infarction. The report from the Myocardial Infarction Genetics Consortium, based on information from a total of 26,000 individuals in 10 countries, was given…
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Health
Gene therapy demonstrates benefit in patients with rheumatoid arthritis
Researchers have reported the first clinical evidence that gene therapy reduces symptoms in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an important milestone for this promising treatment . Described in the February issue of the journal Human Gene Therapy, the findings stem from a study of two patients with severe rheumatoid arthritis conducted in Germany and led…
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Health
Scientists uncover new class of mammalian genes with key functions
A research team at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has uncovered a vast new class of previously unrecognized mammalian genes that do…
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Health
New obesity-related genes identified
A large international consortium has made significant inroads into uncovering the genetic basis of obesity, adding six new genetic variants to the two already linked to higher body mass index (BMI) in previous studies. Most of the newly discovered genes had never before been suspected of having a role in body weight and, curiously, many…
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Health
Research may lead to treatment for retinitis pigmentosa
Rods and cones coexist peacefully in healthy retinas. Both types of cells occupy the same layer of tissue and send signals when they detect light, which is the first step in vision.
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Science & Tech
Of Neanderthals and dairy farmers
Harvard Archaeology Professor Noreen Tuross sought to rehabilitate the image of Neanderthals as meat-eating brutes last week, presenting evidence that, though they almost certainly ate red meat, Neanderthal diets also consisted of other foods — like escargot.
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Health
Connie Cepko
In some ways, Connie Cepko’s job has gotten easier. The Harvard Medical School genetics professor is working to uncover the mysteries of the eye, to understand how it develops and…
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Health
Genetic screening no better than traditional risk factors for predicting type 2 diabetes
Screening for a panel of gene variants associated with the risk for type 2 diabetes can identify adults at risk for the disorder but is not significantly better than assessment based on traditional risk factors such as weight, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels.
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Health
For innovative undergrads, bacteria make some buzz
A team of undergraduates who engineered a bacterial biosensor with electrical output recently made some buzz at the 2008 international Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).